Iwasa Misaki (Wasamin) / 7th Generation

Many times at her mini-live events, but never in a recorded broadcast (as far as I can remember)

 

Episode #32 of "Iwasa Misaki no Wabi Sabi Rajio" (2016/11/10)


if the video does not show watch the video here

"Album Release Special Episode!!!"
(you can hear a few seconds of "Itako Hanayome-san" toward the end of the show)

 

Wasamin appeared on NHK Utacon last night, along with Nogizaka46. I was in the audience with @Tensai For me it was my first time seeing Nogizaka. Wasamin didn't do any solos, she sang along with other artists, and did a lot of backdancing. Nonetheless it was a really good show...



Not sure how long these will stay up...

Highlights,

Geisha Waltz (Wasamin sings on this one too)

if the video does not show watch the video here

Oh, and one more thing...

Wasamin announced on her blog her 6th single will be released 2017/01/10!!!!

It is called 鯖街道 (Saba Kaido)

 

http://www.oricon.co.jp/news/2081539/full/

According to this article (as well as the Tokuma Official Site, Wasamin's label) the coupling songs for Saba Kaido are as follows...

Limited Version: Futarisake (originally recorded in 1980 by Kawanaka Miyuki)

if the video does not show watch the video here

Regular Version: Ishikari Banka (originally recorded in 1975 by Kitahara Mirei)

if the video does not show watch the video here

...and the regular version will also have an acoustic version of Nagori Yuki, which is a song she recorded for request covers. Wasamin will be playing the guitar on this track.

BTW, these are all fairly serious songs. I'm kinda hoping the A-side will be a more whimsical track. Based on the title though, probably not.

BTW, AkiP did write the lyrics for Saba Kaido. Wasamin was happy that he still wrote her song despite the fact that she has graduated from AKB.

And it looks like no AKB cover B-side. So that tradition has ended, at least for now. Although I can see the logic in that.

 

Wasamin Showroom (2016/11/18)


if the video does not show watch the video here

Wasamin shows scenes from her mini-live "Challenge Events" in Chiba. You can also see her official announcement of her 6th single.

She also does a few acoustic performances.

 

Episode #33 of "Iwasa Misaki no Wabi Sabi Rajio" (2016/11/17)


if the video does not show watch the video here

And as a bonus, here are a couple of shots from Wasamin's appearance this weekend at the Ninja Festival in Ueno Park.



Wasamin was the final act of the night, right after Minyo Girls. Remember them? They are the cute traditional idol act (one girl even plays the shamisen!) who sometimes appear with Wasamin. They also belong to Nagara Pro, AND they were recently signed to King Records (heard of them? ) After the show Wasamin and Minyo Girls were sharing the same booth for handshakes. Oddly enough, for Wasamin they were only selling copies of Gomen ne Tokyo, probably because it was cold, wet, dark, hardly the appropriate situation for a shamekai event. Minyo Girls, on the other hand were autographing their CD. Plus, you could get a group 2-shot.



I actually had a group-shot with three of them back in January too. I am becoming a Minyo Girls regular!



As a final bonus, a 2-shot from Sunday at Aeontown Yukarigaoka. I am building quite the collection of these from all the pre-ordering! BTW, Wasamin is ready for London. She asked if any of us were flying out with her, and we all said no.

 

Episode #34 of "Iwasa Misaki no Wabi Sabi Rajio" (2016/11/24)


if the video does not show watch the video here


It sounds like everyone had a great time seeng Wasamin in London this week. Thanks for helping make her trip a big success. I would love to hear more about her performances though.

It's cool that they brought something for everyone to buy. Up until now that calendar had been a fan club exclusive. I'm surprised that they didn't bring copies of her first concert, or Gomen ne Tokyo.

Anyway, tomorrow night is Wasamin's Press/Release event for the new album at Sunshine City, Ikebukuro. Hopefully she will have a nice turnout.

 

Surprise annoucement at Wasamin's release/press event at Ikebukuro Sunshine City tonight....

Wasamin will be returning to France to perform at Japan Expo Sud in Marseille, February 24-26, 2017

http://www.japan-expo-sud.com/en/invites/misaki-iwasa_722.htm

I will post more from the event a little later.

 

Episode #35 of "Iwasa Misaki no Wabi Sabi Rajio" (2016/12/01)


if the video does not show watch the video here

 

I guess it is time for me to give an update on Wasamin's release week. Actually, this was the first time since her second single that I did not attend every release event. Since I am no longer eligible for a railpass, it becomes much more expensive to follow Wasamin around Japan. Furthermore, I had business to tend to in Tokyo, so I would have to settle for 3 of 5 events. That;s okay though, since I have been going to her pre-release events all month...



Release/Press Event 2016/11/30 Sunshine City, Ikebukuro



It was really neat seeing Wasamin's PVs being played on a loop on the giant screen in the middle of Sunshine City. Interestingly, this was the first time that they have only had one event for release day, and it was the first time that there was no event for Furage day. I think part of the reason was because of her London appearance. But one would think as busy as Sunshine City is, two events would have been worthwhile.

The event was at 5:30, but the original sale and seat draw was 7 hours earlier, at 10:30am. I wasn't able to make that, but they announced that a second chance draw for seats would occur at 3:30, so I was in time for that. It was no surprise that I didn't get the best seat draw...




I've had worse. No matter, ultmately I made it to the far left seat in the second row, which was fine. I said hello to Higashi-san, who does the MCs for Wasamin's big events, as well as all of the NagaraPro concerts. I was also happy that I finally got my hands on the new album. Right now I have 20 copies. (Well, 18 since I have given two away) This was also the first day that they were doing preorders for her upcomin single, Saba Kaido. But I decided to stick to the album for the time being. There will be plenty of time for single preorders. I'm sorry that I don't remember the setlist, but iirc it was something like...

1. Gomen, ne Tokyo
2. Itako Hanayome-san
3. Toki no Nagare ni Miwo Makase
4. Mujineki

During the MCs, Higashi-san interviewed her about her London trip, the album, and he was the one who announced that she would be going back to France next year. After the event ended we waited around 30 minutes while the press did their interviews. I love watching Wasamin dealing with press people, she just glows from all the attention. Finally we had our opportunty for Shamekai. I had two tickets, here is one of my pics.



Per usual I had no luck drawing for a signed cheki. Wasamin was eager to tell me she ate fish and chips while in London. I told her that I saw the picture she posted on her blog (and twitter). I then asked her if she improved her Englsih for her trip. She was like "Uhh..." That's my Wasamin! I apologized for not being able to travel with her this week, as I had a final exam in Japanese to take. She wished me luck. I had to leave early since I was meeting a friend on the other side of Ikebukuro, and this event was going a bit overtime. Anyhow, I would see her on Saturday...

Wasamin spent Thursday and Friday performing and promoting in Osaka and Hakata, before flying back to Tokyo in time for...

HMV Release Event, Aeon Mall Urawa-Misono, Saitama Prefecture 2016/12/03

Since I live on the North end of Tokyo, it is quite easy for me to get to most of these Saitama events. This particular Aeon Mall is very close to the home of the Urawa Reds, and this day happened to be the day of the J-League Final. The mall was packed, and at least half the people there were wearing Urawa Reds gear, and if you count everyone wearing red it would have been around 80%. Oh, and it had one of the biggest food courts I have ever seen in a mall. By the way, all of th fans seemed to be in a very rambunctious mood. They were screaming their heads off throughout the events. Wasamin was like "What the hell is going on with you guys???" But we were definitely attracting people from around the mall as the crowd grew as the events went on.

As for the songs she performed, I don't remember the exact order, but I do remember that she sang the following songs...

Four of her singles (except for Moshimo),
and Four songs from her new album: Itako Hanayome-san, Tokyo no Bus Girl, Gakusei Jidai, and Kita no Hotaru



This was my favorite of the two Shamekai I had. Wasamin has this new habit of grabbing your cellphone and checking out the photo before you get it back. She really liked this photo too. She had asked during her MCs if we had listened to the CD yet. So I told her how impressed I was with the acoustic version of Nada Sousou, and that I want to hear more acoustic Wasamin. For the second 2-shot I asked her if she had attended Lovetan's Seitensei in Fukuoka. (She had tweeted about it) She said that sadly she didn't have the chance. I said that I knew that she was really busy. She replied in English. "Yes, I am busy!" LOL Release week culminated with a Fan Club event in Shibuya...

And in case you were wondering, Urawa lost.

Iwasa Misaki Fan Club Christmas Live at Shidax Shibuya (2016/12/04)

Yeah, it might be a little early for a Christmas Party, but Wasamin's schedule is so full that I guess this was the only chance to have it. As we entered the venue they were selling what they had left of her fan club goods. I had everything already, but I picked up another bottle of Wasamin Water. Since we didn't know how this event was going to go, pretty much everyone was buying copies of the album for Shamekai. We would find out later that we all would get a 2-shot just for attending. We also knew that Wasamin would not be wearing her "Santa-min" outfit since she tweeted that the night before. Instead she came out in a really beautiful dress. She looked adorable. We also got a questionaire before the show (which is standard for Wasamin FC events), this would be the first time I would actually try and fill it out.



She sang a few songs in the beginning, one of them was "Shojo A", which I am not familiar with. She lso did acoustic versions of Nada Sousou (from her new album) and Nagori Yuki (from her upcoming single). We then got to watch a long video of her trip to London. It showed her riding around the city, walking around the Christmas market, her first performance with Hayabusa. The rest of the video was Wasamin repeatedly failing at playing with a Kendama. Next there was a drawing for 10 lucky people to win a Christmas present from Wasamin. But there was a catch. If you were one of the 10 winners you had to confess to her. Unfortuntely I didn't win. However, my friend Doikatsu won. (Doikatsu is one of the Japanese fans who went to London. You know, the loud guy) Jeez, he has the best luck at Wasamin events. Anyhow, she finished by singing a very pretty song called "Sweet Memories" and finally "Santa Claus is Coming to Town." It is fun to hear those songs since you can really hear how bad Wasamin's English is. Finally, it was 2-shot time, which took an extaordinarily long time for some reason. I spent the wait filling out all of my postcards for the album prize drawing. I am hoping to win a ticket to the Wasamin "Barbeque Party" this Spring. For the first 2-shot I showed her my questionaire. She read it aloud and exclaimed "Good Job Chris!"




We are reindeer. And yes I have a Santa hat. For the second 2-shot I showed her that I could now write her name in Kanji. She showed it to Ichikawa-san, her manager. I then asked her if she had a day off this week. She said no. I was like "Hey, Wasamin needs a day off, and so does Ichikawa-san" Wasamin was laughing that I was concerned about her manager. Anyway, we all got a little gift for coming to the event...



And, after an extremely long drought, I finally drew a signed cheki. Only my second of the campaign...


Konnichiwasamin!!

By the way, this was the day that most of the fans received their official fan club Happi coats. I initially didn't order one since "free size" usually means too small for me. In fact I have an AKB48 Team B Happi, and it is a bit snug. But I noticed a lot of her larger fans had them so I asked to try one on. It wasn't too small, so I went and ordered one today. (The order period had passed over a month ago, but I called NagaraPro and they said they still had some if I sent the money in this week, which I did) Anyway, after the show I headed to Harajuku for dinner, but not before passing Yoyogi Gymnasium which was packed with girls excited to see Yamapi live. I kinda like Yamapi too, so I was a little jealous.


(Sorry the pic didn't come out, but it says Tomohisa Yamashita Future Fantasy)

Tomorrow is "officially" the first preorder event for Wasamin's 6th single at Sofmap in Akihabara (right across the street from the Donki) I also received a fan club mailer yesterday filled with Wasamin events, including a Valentine bus tour. So no rest for Wasamin, and no rest for Wasafan's wallet!